Every Friday, Perfect Daily Grind rounds up the top coffee industry news from the previous week. Here are this week’s stories.

• Monday, 12 Apr – 7-Eleven opens Evolution Stores in Texas. The US convenience chain opened four new concept stores last year across the country. Features include self-serve espresso-based and cold brew machines, and customers can utilise contactless mobile checkout systems.

• Monday, 12 Apr – Sucafina’s East Africa Academy creates one-year internship programme for university students. The programme has been launched in response to high unemployment rates throughout East Africa, including Ethiopia, Kenya, and Burundi. Internship opportunities involve training and employment with Sucafina’s sister companies.

• Monday, 12 Apr – Starbucks China includes Beyond Meat on menu. As well as partnering with Oatly for more plant-based options, the coffee chain will start to feature pasta dishes using the meat substitute. Beyond Meat is also set to launch a Chinese-language website.

• Monday, 12 Apr – CoE announces 23 winners from 2021 Colombia Cup of Excellence competition. Pablo Andrés Guerrero of the Nariño region received the highest score, which was 90.61 points for his washed Geisha. Around 26% of the 23 winners were women, with eight coffee varieties and six processing techniques represented across all winning coffees.

• Monday, 12 Apr – High Brew Coffee launches RTD Sweet Cream Nitro Cold Brew. The uniquely-designed can injects nitrogen at the point of consumption using integrated technology. The beverage is made from 100% arabica coffee and is priced at US $3.69.

• Monday, 12 Apr – Café Unido to open headquarters in Washington DC. The roaster has locations in the US and Panama, and exclusively sells Panamanian coffee. The new roastery and café will include a 12-seat cupping table and a cascara-based ketchup on the food menu.

• Monday, 12 Apr – Anacafé launches “One Of A Kind Guatemala” coffee auction. This week, the Guatemalan National Coffee Association held the national rounds of the competition, highlighting the country’s native varieties. The final auction will take place on July 13.

• Monday, 12 Apr – World’s largest coffee co-op in Brazil reports 32% drop in production. Cooxupe announced the production of 7.49 million bags in 2021, compared to 10.99 million bags last year. Dry weather and higher temperatures have been pointed out as likely causes of this fall in production.

• Monday, 12 Apr – Passenger Coffee & Tea trials reusable packaging for online orders. The Pennsylvania company partnered with California startup Boox, who specialise in constructing reusable boxes for retail delivery. During online purchasing, customers can opt for Boox shipping, with a QR inside the box that gives them instructions for returning the packaging.

• Monday, 12 Apr – FNC reports 30% increase in March 2021 Colombian coffee production. Harvest yields rose by 1,050,000 bags in March 2021, compared to a monthly increase of 806,000 in March 2020.

• Monday, 12 Apr – Mambo Coffee Company creates initiative to increase coffee consumption in Tanzania. The Coffee Kiosk Project will also seek to raise local farmers’ wages, particularly in the Kilimanjaro area, through increasing access to education on specialty coffee production.

• Monday, 12 Apr – Rave Coffee to release Colombia Corozal No. 112 as part of “1% for the Planet” commitment. The coffee is grown at high altitudes in the Tierra Fria regions; because of climate change, these regions have now reached optimal growing temperatures for arabica. Rave Coffee will donate 1% of all its product sales to environmental causes.

• Tuesday, 13 Apr – Owners of Café Coffee Day face legal action after defaulting on loans. Coffee Day Enterprises Limited owns India’s largest coffee chain, but with outstanding debts amounting to US $37.2 million, they could face bankruptcy. Café Coffee Day’s founder, V.G. Siddhartha, died in June 2019; shortly afterwards, US $360 million of the company’s money was found to be missing.

• Tuesday, 13 Apr – Probat launches new Proair cooling exhaust air treatment system. The Proair can treat up to 220,000 cubic metres of air per hour, and reduces odours during roasting by at least 50%. Compared to other systems, Probat claim that Proair can increase energy savings by at least 75%.

• Tuesday, 13 Apr – Glitter Cat Barista launches “The Roasters Spotlight” subscription platform. The non-profit will showcase coffee from roasters who have taken part in Glitter Cat initiatives since their launch in 2018. Each month, subscribers receive a 12oz (350g) bag of coffee, with a tasting card and Glitter Cat merchandise.

• Wednesday, 14 Apr – GAIL’s starts stocking climate-friendly milk which has lower dairy methane emissions.. Agritech startup “Mootral” created the 100% natural supplement that aids digestion in cows, helping to reduce GHG emissions and increases the yield of eco-friendly milk. Brade’s Farm in Lancashire produces the milk for GAIL’s, which is available to purchase in-store and online.

• Wednesday, 14 Apr – “JoGo” brewing straw launches on Kickstarter. The product is designed after the “bombilla”– a traditional straw with a built-in filter for drinking Yerba Mate tea. The base is removable. JoGo was awarded the “Project We Love” badge by Kickstarter in March for its “sustainable impact”.

• Wednesday, 14 Apr – De’Longhi launches PrimaDonna Soul bean-to-cup machine. The integrated “Bean Adapt Technology” lets users change grind, dose, and temperature settings based on the coffee they’re using. Through the app or integrated touch screen, consumers can select from a range of beverages.

• Wednesday, 14 Apr – Costa Coffee UK reduces all hot drinks to 50p from April 13 to 15. As part of the coffee chain’s 50th anniversary campaign, all registered Costa Coffee Club members could purchase any hot beverage at the reduced price.

• Wednesday, 14 Apr – Raw Material Coffee launches Donor Box campaign to support flood relief in Timor Leste. Heavy flooding and landslides started on April 4, but the Timor Leste government is unable to support some rural communities who have been among the most severely affected. Donations will be used to support coffee-growing communities in 6 of the country’s 13 municipalities.

• Wednesday, 14 Apr – Demetria welcomes Oswaldo Aranha Neto as new board member. Aranha Neto is the former President of the Brazilian Coffee Exporters Federation (FEBEC) and Executive Director of Cecafé. He joins the AI agritech startup as International Business Development and Commercial Advisor.

• Wednesday, 14 Apr – World Coffee Portal European coffee shop report now available to order. The Project Café Europe 2021 study found the number of branded coffee outlets grew by 0.9% during 2020 to a total of 39,308 locations. Russia saw the largest increase in net coffee shop openings, while Turkey experienced the most net closures.

• Wednesday, 14 Apr – Agency for the Valorization of Agricultural Products hosts first “Chocolates Processed At Origin” competition. The non-profit received submission samples from most cacao-producing countries. The winners are set to be announced in June.

• Wednesday, 14 Apr – Steeped Coffee welcomes La Colombe to its single-serve brand line-up. Steeped Coffee has over 200 partnerships with US roasters. La Colombe’s Steeped offerings include the Monaco Medium Roast, Corsica Dark Roast, and Monte Carlo Decaffeinated coffees.

• Wednesday, 14 Apr – Olam announces child labour and deforestation monitoring programmes. The eradication of child labour initiative covers 183,000 coffee and cacao-growing households in 9 countries, while the deforestation monitoring scheme involves some 12,000 suppliers.

• Wednesday, 14 Apr – ICO partners with Young Ambassador Society to increase employment opportunities for global youth. The Young Ambassador Society leads the 2021 Youth20 Summit, which allows young people to voice their concerns to G20 governments. The ICO will host Y20 Coffee Day at the Summit, in which global coffee industry stakeholders can showcase their commitment to sustainability and outline job opportunities for young people around the world.

• Wednesday, 14 Apr – illycaffè becomes certified B Corp. illycaffè is the first Italian coffee company with this status, which requires them to meet social sustainability and environmental protection standards. For the past nine consecutive years, the company has been named as one of the “World’s Most Ethical Companies” by Ethisphere.

• Wednesday, 14 Apr – Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research claims Ethiopia may be set to produce less specialty coffee due to climate change. Researchers predicted that the land suitable for growing all coffee could increase up until the 2090s, but will most likely decrease for specialty-grade beans. The study also found that Yirgachefe, an important area for coffee cultivation, could lose as much as 40% of suitable growing land.

• Thursday, 15 Apr – Cropster to host webinar entitled How High? Altitude and impacts on roasting. On April 20, Rob Hoos, Joe Marrocco, and Balzac Brothers will join Cropster to discuss the effects of altitude on coffee roasting. The webinar will take place at 12:00 PST.

• Thursday, 15 Apr – Prana Chai releases Decaf Blend. The Melbourne company uses CO2 to remove the caffeine from black tea. Otherwise, the Decaf Blend contains the same ingredients as the Original Blend.

• Thursday, 15 Apr – Oatly announces “Big Grant Idea” for coffee businesses. Independent cafés and roasters with less than 75 staff members can apply for funding for sustainability projects, such as eradicating single-use items or waste upcycling schemes.

• Friday, 16 Apr – “Ujjo – The First Hot Sauce for Coffee” launches on Kickstarter. Unlike traditional hot sauces containing vinegar and garlic, Ujjo includes warming spices such as cinnamon and ginger – as well as chili. Two flavours are available: the Ujjo Light Roast and Dark Roast Blends.

• Friday, 16 Apr – Circle K announces 100% sustainably sourced coffee at all US outlets. The chain will be focusing on improved environmental practices, better farm productivity, and social development for coffee farmers through their sourcing programmes.

Here are a few news stories from previous weeks that you might find interesting. Take a look.

• Thursday, 8 Apr – Nestlé joins Rimba Collective in tropical forestry restoration project. The initiative was developed by Lestari Capital with its founding partners, including Nestlé and PepsiCo. The programme will work to restore over 500,000ha of tropical forests in southeast Asia.

• Thursday, 8 Apr – Smart Packaging Hub platform goes live. The online initiative has been developed by seven different companies, and will work towards technological innovation in automated packaging, including for the coffee industry. The platform provides users with information on how to adapt their machines to meet rising demand as well as better energy efficiency.

• Friday, 9 Apr – US Postal Service issues four new coffee-themed postal stamps. The designs include espresso, cappuccino, latte, and mocha, all designed in the style of 1920s advertisement posters. They are available to purchase online.

• Friday, 9 Apr – Victoria Arduino showcases E1 Prima during Milan’s 2021 Interni Designer’s Week. The “Prima Meets Icons” exhibition is taking place between 12 to 23 April and will pay homage to architect Alfonso Arosio, who designed a special edition of the machine. The installation is also showcasing the three E1 Prima models designed by Giulio Cappellini.

• Sunday, 11 Apr – Emirati Coffee announces 3,153% online sales growth during 2020. The UAE roaster sells locally and internationally to more than 160 outlets. Emirati are looking to expand into the Saudi and Chinese markets, with a roastery set to open in Riyadh in 2022.

• Sunday, 11 Apr – Thailand’s Café Amazon announces plans to expand into the Vietnamese market. The coffee chain has around 3,000 stores in 10 countries, and already has outlets in the Ben Tre, Tien Giang, and Tra Vinh Provinces of Vietnam.